The musings of a poet, blogger, activist and social and political commentator with a 35 year history of depression. Always outspoken, always controversial, sometimes dark, sometimes humourous.
Meditations From The Abyss is a proud member of the My Blogworld Forum on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/myblogworld/).

Monday, 17 March 2014

When I used to write a column for Your Thurrock, my local news website,
the right-wing critics always used the argument that, while I highlighted the
problems caused by the current ConDem Government, I never gave any
solutions.That wasn’t strictly true, of
course, I did provide solutions, I just didn’t give fully detailed ones.

The reason I didn’t provide fully detailed solutions was because,
although I am observant enough to see the problems being caused and open-minded
enough to not be taken in by the ConDem propaganda, I was never and will never
be arrogant enough to claim that I had all the answers.I have always been of the opinion that there
are those who point out the problems and those who have the knowledge and
skills to actually provide the answers.I have also been of the opinion that no one person has all the answers
and that provoking a debate to get many differing viewpoints is the best way of
arriving at the solution; however, on this singular occasion, I have decided to
have a go at putting forward some ideas for an economic policy for the UK.They still aren’t fully detailed but they are
a lot more detailed than any previous answers I’ve put forward in the past.

So here for your enjoyment and delectation are my ideas for Valenomics.

A brief look at the situation

Before we begin to look at my suggestions, we need to look at the
situation the UK is in.

Firstly, the global financial crash caused by the ‘casino’ banking
practices destroyed the economy with their reckless disregard for the
consequences of their actions.

Secondly, the banking sector has been suffering from a lack of
regulation since the time of the previous Labour administration.This meant that there was nothing in place to
stop the ‘casino’ banking practices in the first place.

Thirdly, the level of public spending had grown to a large degree,
leaving the UK with a deficit that needed to be paid back to whatever
mysterious entity was responsible for lending the money to the UK in the first
place.

Fourthly, there was a certain laxity in the collection of taxes from
corporations and rich individuals who were able to evade paying taxes through using
various huge gaping loopholes that whilst being totally legal were and are
completely morally reprehensible.

The economy was in the tank and things were not looking good.

When the ConDem administration took power in 2010, they had already
decided on a plan of action that they said would sort out the deficit within
their five-year term of office.This
would all be fine if they had gone after the people who caused the financial
crash in the first place, the bankers, those with the broadest shoulders to
carry such a financial burden but the target of their austerity measures was to
be the poor, the sick, the disabled and the disadvantaged and the services that
they rely on.

Under the fallacious statement that the austerity measures would ensure
that “we are all in it together”, the Conservative led Coalition got out their
scalpels and started hacking away at the various Government department budgets
but the brunt of the attack was felt by the lower end of society’s social
ladder when the welfare budget was hacked to pieces and the so-called ‘reforms’
kicked in.The wealthy individuals and
corporations were left untouched by the pain being felt by the voiceless
majority.Some have even prospered
during this time of supposed economic stringency.

Loopholes through which corporations and individuals managed to evade
tax were left untouched, some would say because there are many in the current
Government who actually use those self same loopholes to continue evading tax.Services started to become squeezed as their
budgets became smaller as more and more money was funnelled into trying to pay
off the deficit but the wealthy, many of whom are members of the Government, were
untouched by the devastation being caused.

It is also a dark reminder of the injustice in this country that some
large businesses who conduct business in the UK receive more money in
Government subsidies than they pay in Corporation Tax.

Many vulnerable citizens were left even more vulnerable with their
benefits getting slashed to pay for a mistake not of their making and some of
them even died at the hands of a cruel system being reshaped to supposedly “make
work pay”.Jobs were taken from the job
market, creating more unemployed, only to be filled by unemployed people being
forced to work for nothing but their meagre welfare income, a new slave class.

The slave class allowed major businesses to cut their wage bill and
increase their profits whilst slapping their former employees around the face
with that fact.And the rich got richer
and the poor got poorer.

Living standards dropped like a stone and continue to do so whilst the
cost of living rose, driving every kind of poverty through the roof where,
during the final days of the Labour administration, those levels were
falling.Food banks became the only
growth business in this shattered economy, an economy made all the worse by the
Coalition’s insistence on cutting too hard and too fast.

As if things weren’t bad enough for the poor, those in social housing
and claiming Housing Benefit, were to be hit by the unjust Bedroom Tax which
equated to a significant loss of benefit for each ‘spare’ bedroom, regardless
of the use it was being put.Again, the
Bedroom Tax was hitting the lowest strata of society whilst the rich got away
scot free.A sign of the times was that,
for the first time in history, in-work poverty outstripped poverty amongst
workless household; hardly making work pay.

Any pretence at being “all in this together” disappeared when the rich
got tax cuts as the poor suffered even with the small carrot of the personal
allowance being raised slightly, taking some people out of taxation.

Retail sales were down as people struggled to make ends meet and the
economy that had been showing signs of recovery in the dying days of the Labour
administration slowed to a crawl.

One of the cruellest blows was the closing of Remploy factories that
employed disabled people who were now thrown onto the scrapheap to claim
benefits that were being cut or made so difficult to qualify for that they lost
a large part of their income.

Although signs of economic recovery are supposedly being seen, the
living standards and hardship on the lower strata of the societal ladder are
getting gradually worse whilst the rich prosper.

Valenomics

The way that the economy is being handled is extremely prejudiced
against the poor and disadvantaged and certainly shows that we are not “all in
this together” but there is a way that things could be made fairer and still
improve the economic situation in the UK – Valenomics.

The problem as I see it is that UK society has become increasingly split
into two sections – the rich and the poor.This has always been the case to some extent but the situation has been
made much worse by the current administration.The rich are not, as they should be, carrying their fair share of the
burden for the repaying of the national deficit so we must first look at the
methods for redressing this balance.

It seems only right that our leaders, who have continually stated that we
are “all in this together”, start to lead by example so the first rule of
Valenomics is:

No wages or expenses to be paid to Members of Parliament
with a personal fortune, personal savings or personal investments that amount
to £1million or over and/or have lucrative second jobs.

This seems reasonable to me and the money saved can be put back into the
welfare system that is being so devastated by the austerity measures.It won’t solve the welfare shortfall but will
help some people and it ensures that Members of Parliament are sharing the pain
of the cuts.

But what about the bankers who caused the financial crash and have
gotten away scot free?Fear not, dear
reader, I have considered this and duly present the next rule of Valenomics:

Legislation to be put in place to force bankers to
relinquish any and all bonus payments they receive to create a fund to help
build up the UK’s manufacturing industry.

Again, this may not amount to much in itself but will provide the
foundation of a fund to help give Britain the chance to start to rebuild the
manufacturing industry that the Thatcher/Major Conservative administrations decimated
in favour of a reliance on the banking industry.If the money was able to help start up even a
single manufacturing company, jobs would be created and money would start to be
paid into the tax system by people currently taking money out of it.

And we mustn’t forget to punish those bankers who continue to play fast
and loose with other people’s money:

The penalties can be put back into the nation’s coffers or added to the
fund mentioned above.

The bankers won’t get away with just the loss of their bonuses though as
we now look at the measures for making sure the wealthy individuals and corporations
contribute towards the finances of the State.

We start with the Valenomics rules for tax evaders.

It’s wrong that for-profit companies get more money from the UK than
they contribute to it so:

There will be no subsidies paid to medium to large
corporations who conduct business in the UK but evade paying Corporation Tax in
this country.

The money currently used to subsidise such companies can be ploughed
back into the nation’s coffers or added to the fund to rebuild the
manufacturing industry.

Legislation will be introduced that will seek to close
all methods of tax evasion, whether personal or corporate.

And it’s time to punish the tax evaders so:

Ruthless prosecution of tax evaders with harsh
custodial sentences (all to be paid for at the tax evader’s own expense).

Of course, not all wealthy people are tax evaders but they must still
carry their fair share of the burden for repairing the economy so:

The institution of a Mansion Tax on properties costing
£1million or over.

I haven’t considered the amount of tax to be levied on such properties
but I’m sure a reasonable amount can be worked out.

It seems only right that we occasionally offer a carrot to the rich to
pay their taxes so:

The top rate of Income Tax to be set at 50p for high
earners with early or prompt payment of Income Tax to be rewarded by a
reduction of the rate to 45p.

However:

Harsh financial penalties to be levied against
individuals for late payment of tax.

There is a great injustice being perpetrated at the moment against
people in social housing and claiming Housing Benefit and that is the penalty
for having what the Government considers to be too much living space – the dreaded
Bedroom Tax.The question is – if the
Government is truly applying the Bedroom Tax as a way of saving money, why not generate money by applying it to
everyone? This would seem to be an ideal
way of addressing the ecological concerns of a growing population with a lack
of available living space as well as ensuring that no one has more living space
than they actually need.This is fair
and equitable to everyone.

Therefore:

The Bedroom Tax is to be extended to all properties
and all individuals with the money generated redistributed to other budgetary
areas.

The Bedroom Tax deducted from Housing Benefit claims can be ploughed
back into the welfare budget whilst the charges levied on non-benefit claimants
properties can be used elsewhere.

Of course, that only really solves the problem of ‘spare’ bedrooms.What about huge houses with loads of extra
rooms?

Excessive Living Space Charge to be levied on large
properties and added to that property’s Council Tax bill.

Of course, we have to consider what the correct amount of living space
for the various types of households in order to calculate the Excessive Living
Space Charge is.It seems only fair that
we use the current Government’s basic idea that they use for applying the
Bedroom Tax although I’m slightly more generous to couples.

Living Space Allowances

Single

Couple (no children)

Families

Living Room

Kitchen

Bathroom/Toilet

1 Bedroom

Living Room

Kitchen

Bathroom/Toilet

2 Bedrooms

Living Room

Kitchen

Bathroom/Toilet

plus

1 Bedroom for up to
2 children of same gender

or

1 Bedroom for up to
2 male children

and

1 Bedroom for up to
2 female children

and 1
Multi-purpose Room

for every 2
children

I am open to changing these allowances a little with regards to families
because I have no real idea of the complete needs of a large family but,
whatever the final decision on these are, there
will be no exceptions.

If you don’t want to be hit by the Bedroom Tax or the Excessive Living
Space Charge then you always have the option to move – exactly as the people currently
being hit by the Bedroom Tax have.

Although I love the idea of universal benefits, the current Government
have already made moves to take benefits away from the poor that they
themselves have claimed in the past so I think to redress the balance here we
need a new Valenomics rule:

Universal benefits to be withdrawn from individuals/couples/families
based on means-testing and household income if above a certain level.

Again, I haven’t thought about the actual level above which the
universal benefits should be withdrawn but we do have to start cutting the
benefit bill somewhere and we can’t hit the poor, sick and disabled as that
just wouldn’t be nice.

And just to make things perfectly clear:

Pensioners will not
be exempt from the above rules.

Of course, we are just bringing in a little extra revenue and perhaps
saving a little of the expenditure on benefits at the moment but what we really
need is to kick start the economy and the way to do that is to get people
buying, creating jobs and lowering living costs for the low paid.

I have some bad news for the low paid workers of the UK here because we
need to make sure that current employers can still keep their staffing at
current levels and make it economically viable for new businesses to hire
enough new staff so:

There will be no increase in the National Minimum Wage
or the setting up of a National Living Wage.

However, if that is to be the case, we need to make sure that the cost
of living is manageable for the low paid and those on benefits so:

Legislation will be introduced to force businesses to
reduce the profit margins on their products and/or services to between 5 and
10%.

Some may say that this is madness but companies regularly make millions
in profit by gouging their customers so it’s time to give a little back.Lower profit margins won’t be a problem
because what a company loses in profit on individual items will be made back in
the sheer bulk of sales.This is simply
taking the notion of the way supermarkets use sale items to attract business by
drastically cutting the normal price knowing that the increase in sales of that
particular line will offset the reduction in the individual item profit margin
and applying it to the entire stock.This is why the National Minimum Wage isn’t being increased and why a
National Living Wage would not be put in place.

This reduction in across the board profit margins doesn’t have to be a permanent
measure and could be repealed in better economic times.

As we already have a kind of two-tier divide amongst supermarkets and
other retail stores, it seems ridiculous to not use that dividing line between
the high cost range stores and the lower/medium range stores.

The abolition of the Manufacturer’s Retail Price and the
Recommended Retail Price to be replaced with Maximum Retail Prices in
lower/medium cost range retail outlets.

High cost range retail outlets are exempt from the Maximum
Retail Price rules and can charge whatever they wish but will be subject to a
Minimum Retail Price.The Minimum Retail
Price at these retail outlets will be significantly higher than the Maximum
Retail Price charged at lower/medium cost range stores.

Severe financial penalties will be incurred by retail
outlets that break the Maximum Retail Price or Minimum Retail Price rules.

It would certainly be in the interests of all retail outlets to adhere
to the rules outlined above so that they don’t incur penalties which will wipe
out any profit they might make and may certainly end their business.

To further lower the cost of living and to encourage people to go out
and buy things:

VAT would be reduced to 15%

VAT would be abolished on groceries and household
goods that are currently subject to the tax.

We also need to consider the cost of renting a property in the private
sector the price of which can be prohibitive and costly in terms of the amount
spent on Housing Benefit if those tenants fall on hard times so:

Legislation to be introduced to put a maximum price
cap on rental prices in the private sector. *Regional variations apply

This will aid those people who need to downsize to avoid paying the
Bedroom Tax and/or the Excessive Living Space Charge, create a fairer market
for tenants and make sure that property developers are feeling the pain of
these economic times.

Well, we’ve lowered living costs and got people buying things but we
still need to have a bit of a business boom to help the economy and get people
into work.And I’ve considered that as
well.

During this current administration, disabled people have lost jobs in
specialised workplaces due to the closing of a number of Remploy centres.These people who were gainfully employed and
paying into the system ended up on the scrapheap and on benefits, the complete
opposite of the Government’s intended aim of getting people off of benefits and
into work and “making work pay”.The
reason given was that the centres weren’t profitable but here’s an idea for you
to mull over:

Set up Remploy printing and reprographic businesses to
fulfil Government stationary and reprographic contracts.

This would not only provide employment for disabled people, getting them
off benefits and into work but would reduce the costs on the current stationary
and reprographic needs for the Government.The Remploy centres could also supply to charities thus reducing the
running costs for the various charities.How’s that for the Big Society?

The Government could also help businesses to start up or expand with the
following idea:

The Government to seize currently empty industrial
sites and offer the buildings therein free of charge to existing British small
businesses for expansion and to British start up businesses fulfilling a need
in sectors currently controlled by foreign companies.

Offering free buildings will cut down the costs of expansion or setting
up a new business making it easier for potential employers to hire more staff
and increasing the Income Tax revenue.

The Government needs to invest in British manufacturing again and to
reward innovation so:

Provide subsidies for businesses offering profitable
innovative or unique products or services that are made or provided by British
companies.

Providing subsidies to British companies will start to help rebuild the manufacturing
industry as well as possibly helping the UK become the heartland for innovation
in any number of areas.

But the Government shouldn’t forget about the need to remain a player in
the global marketplace so:

Offer incentives to foreign businesses willing to
operate in the UK and pay Corporation
Tax to the UK as well.

As you can see, I have no intention of cutting foreign companies out of
the UK but, if they want to come here and profit from the country, they should
be willing to pay into the country too.

Finally, we return to the bankers who really need to start to repay
their debt for causing the financial mess the UK is in and they can do that
very simply.

Banks to offer preferential loan rates for existing
British small businesses to help them expand and to British start up businesses
who fulfil a need in the manufacturing or other sector currently controlled by
foreign companies.

So that’s my ideas for an “all in it together” economic policy.Everyone suffers to some degree and everyone
benefits to some degree.I’m sure that
there are things I could have added and I’m sure that there are going to be
things that just wouldn’t work but at least I gave it a good old college try.

Sunday, 16 March 2014

I just need to let off a little steam right now if for no other reason
than to try and make myself feel a little better.

I’m really pissed off that, for all the good I’ve tried to do since I
became unwell, people have decided to turn their backs on me.

Since the 2010 General Election, I have tried to stand up for the people
hit by the cuts to the welfare budget and the associated so-called ‘reforms’
despite having been unaffected by them personally. I have been an opponent of the welfare ‘reforms’
not because I don’t like the Tories or because I’m a left-winger but because it’s
been the right thing to do.Anyone with
an ounce of social conscience or plain humanity would have done the same, yet I
have been labelled a left-winger by the politically right-wing supporters, attracted
a vast amount of abuse for my highlighting of the inequality fuelled by the current
UK Government and their discriminatory and illegal practices and have found
myself an outcast.

Now I am facing my own struggle to survive as I am about to be
personally affected by the welfare ‘reforms’ and budget cuts but it seems as
though there is no one there to help me.Soon I won’t have the money to feed myself, how bloody ironic.

I have tried to educate social worker students in the subject of mental health
from a service user perspective and give them the practical skills they need to
function successfully in their chosen field, yet I have had my efforts thrown
back in my face by a vocal but rather childish minority.It seems ironic that some of those students
who have so horribly and cowardly attacked me and should not really be allowed
out in the field with such attitudes are probably some of the students I helped
successfully pass the module that will allow them out into the field on their
work placements.How galling is that for
me?

I even took a teacher training course to inform the work I was doing
with the social work students and to improve the range of work I could look for
as well as the level of my qualifications but now I’m no longer asked to be
involved with the social work courses and the level of the qualification won’t
exactly qualify me for much in the way of teaching jobs.I probably won’t even receive my
certification until I am either too sick to work or in hospital suffering from
malnutrition or starvation.

For all the attempts I have made to improve my lot in life and to help
others in my own small way, I have earned no respect, no friends and no
miniscule improvement for my own life.People who called me a friend have conveniently turned their backs on me
now I am in need and I am met with stony silence from them.

I am not surprised by any of this really, just saddened that I am being
abandoned by the people I have helped.I
am not exactly a fan of the human race because of the way I have been treated
by so many of them in the past.I have,
however, always tried to help others, despite my personal inclination to remain
apart from the rest of humanity, and feel that I have earned some reciprocity.It seems, though, that the rest of humanity
doesn’t agree with me.